Joe Masseria

Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (17 January 1886-15 April 1931) was the boss of the modern Genovese crime family, leading the family from 1922 to 1931. Masseria, assisted by the former crime boss Giuseppe Morello, rose to become one of the most powerful bosses in New York City. He fought against Salvatore Maranzano in the Castellammarese War of 1929-1931, and he was murdered by his own men.

Biography
Giuseppe Masseria was born on 17 January 1886 in Menfi, Sicily, Italy, and he arrived in the United States in 1902. Masseria joined Giuseppe Morello's Sicilian gang in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, and he got to know men such as Gaetano Reina and Salvatore D'Aquila. The imprisonment of Morello would lead to civil warfare within his gang, and Masseria began his rise to power. During the late 1910s, Masseria formed a rivalry with D'Aquila, who sent Umberto Valenti to murder him on 9 August 1922. He survived the hit attempt unscathed, and he was nicknamed "the man who could dodge bullets" as a result of this feat; he proceeded to have Valenti killed, earning him the new nickname "Joe the Boss". Masseria eventually surpassed Morello in power, becoming the new boss of the Morello crime family. Masseria became a respected figure, and he managed to threaten even the famous Arnold Rothstein, forcing Rothstein's associates Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky to give him 10% of the earnings from their card games on the Lower East Side due to his control over the neighborhood. Masseria became hostile with Rothstein after his two nephews were murdered by Jimmy Darmody, blaming the murder on Lanksy and Luciano. War was narrowly averted, and Masseria instead turned his attention to assisting his ally Rothstein against Atlantic City crime boss Nucky Thompson. The loss of his capo Gyp Rosetti during the war against Thompson made Masseria reconsider his role in the war, and he decided to make peace with the Atlantic City boss.

In 1928, Giuseppe Morello had Salvatore D'Aquila murdered, and the murder of Frankie Yale that same year allowed for Masseria to fight to become the predominant crime boss in the city. Masseria went to war with Salvatore Maranzano in 1929, vying for power against him in the "Castellammarese War". Masseria was the more powerful boss, but the murders of Giuseppe Morello and Alfred Mineo led to Masseria being weakened. Eventually, some of Masseria's minions began to see Maranzano as the more powerful boss, and they plotted to kill him. On 15 April 1931, Masseria was called to a meeting by Lucky Luciano to discuss the war, and they met in a restaurant. Luciano excused himself to use the bathroom, and Bugsy Siegel and Tonino Sandrelli rushed into the restaurant with guns drawn, executing Masseria at the table. Luciano was given Masseria's rackets, and he became Maranzano's second-in-command before betraying him as well.